The Pyrenees mountain range in the south-west of Europe forms a natural border between Spain and France. Nestled in the heart of these mountain ranges and surrounded by the tallest peaks of that region is the beautiful town of Benasque where the XXXV Benasque International Open took place from the 2nd to 11th of July 2015.
A bird’s eye view of Benasque
Into its 35th year, the Benasque Open has already established itself as one of the biggest tournaments in Spain and Europe. This year witnessed the participation of 412 players from 37 different countries. Truly a global event!
The huge and spacious playing hall
There were totally 104 titled players with 34 grandmasters and 23 International Masters. Six players were rated above 2600, and Israel’s Maxim Rodshtein was the top seed of the event. After eleven gruelling rounds filled with fighting chess, it was the talented 22-year-old Indian GM B. Adhiban (2627) who emerged victorious with a score of 8.5/10.
Adhiban went back home with a beautiful trophy, extremely
valuable 16 Elo points, a 2729 performance and €4000
The tournament was very closely contested right up to the last round. Due to a huge number of entries, after almost every round there would be multiple leaders. The first person who could snatch the sole lead was GM Krzysztof Jakubowski from Poland with 5.0/5.
Though Jakubowski had a great start, he could only muster
1.5 points from the remaining five games (picture by Sylwia Rudolf)
Jakubowski’s run was stopped by the 2008 Beasque Open winner GM Granda Zuniga Julio who had a great tournament in Benasque.
It’s difficult to find tournaments where Granda Zuniga doesn’t perform well! He finished second and gained ten rating points.
While the experienced Peruvian was having a good tournament, it was his 20-year-old country mate Cori Jorge who really stepped on the gas. After eight rounds with a score of 7.0/8 Cori shot in to the sole lead.
With just two rounds to go it seemed as if Cori Jorge would win the tournament, until…
….he was beaten by the top seed Maxim Rodshtein in the penultimate round
As the last round began, four players shared the lead with 7.5/9 – Rodshtein, Adhiban, Grigoriants and Naroditsky. They were followed by a pack of six players on seven points. Even though Adhiban had the best tie-break score, it seemed as if Maxim had the edge as he had the white pieces. It was surprising that Adhiban played the King’s Indian Defence rather than some solid opening. But the Indian was in mood for fighting chess. Till a point everything was going fine for the Israeli player but suddenly all went down-hill.
With this victory Adhiban won the tournament with a half point margin as the game between Grigoriants and Naroditsky ended in a draw.
An Indian flanked by two Peruvians – Granda Zuniga (second), Adhiban (first), Jorge Cori (third)
| Rk. | Sd | Ti. | Player | FED | Rtng | Pts | Rp |
w
|
we |
wwe
|
elo+/-
|
| 1 | 4 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2627 | 8.5 | 2729 |
8.5
|
6.90 |
1.60
|
16.0
|
| 2 | 3 | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio | PER | 2652 | 8.0 | 2680 |
8
|
7.06 |
0.94
|
9.4
|
| 3 | 5 | GM | Cori Jorge | PER | 2623 | 8.0 | 2677 |
8
|
6.80 |
1.20
|
12.0
|
| 4 | 6 | GM | Naroditsky Daniel | USA | 2622 | 8.0 | 2656 |
8
|
7.06 |
0.94
|
9.4
|
| 5 | 7 | GM | Grigoriants Sergey | RUS | 2594 | 8.0 | 2650 |
8
|
6.83 |
1.17
|
11.7
|
| 6 | 8 | GM | Romanov Evgeny | RUS | 2575 | 8.0 | 2635 |
8
|
6.86 |
1.14
|
11.4
|
| 7 | 20 | GM | Baron Tal | ISR | 2509 | 8.0 | 2604 |
8
|
6.46 |
1.54
|
15.4
|
| 8 | 1 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | ISR | 2678 | 7.5 | 2618 |
7.5
|
7.48 |
0.02
|
0.2
|
| 9 | 17 | GM | Kharitonov Alexandr | RUS | 2536 | 7.5 | 2600 |
7.5
|
6.20 |
1.30
|
13.0
|
| 10 | 13 | GM | Gretarsson Steinn | ISL | 2559 | 7.5 | 2580 |
7.5
|
6.75 |
0.75
|
7.5
|
| 11 | 12 | GM | Jakubowski Krzysztof | POL | 2565 | 7.5 | 2577 |
7.5
|
6.86 |
0.64
|
6.4
|
| 12 | 19 | GM | Antal Gergely | HUN | 2512 | 7.5 | 2570 |
7.5
|
6.31 |
1.19
|
11.9
|
| 13 | 2 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | HUN | 2664 | 7.5 | 2562 |
7.5
|
8.04 |
-0.54
|
-5.4
|
| 14 | 22 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | IND | 2492 | 7.5 | 2515 |
7.5
|
6.84 |
0.66
|
6.6
|
| 15 | 21 | GM | Mogranzini Roberto | ITA | 2497 | 7.5 | 2522 |
7.5
|
6.75 |
0.75
|
7.5
|
| 16 | 41 | GM | Bykhovsky Avigdor | RUS | 2419 | 7.5 | 2349 |
7.5
|
7.74 |
-0.24
|
-2.4
|
After the tournament ended, Adhiban spent some time relaxing in Benasque and prepared for his upcoming tournament in Biel. In between he found time to answer few questions, sent us some nice pictures and also annotated a game for the readers of ChessBase.
Sagar Shah: Adhiban, how does it feel to win a strong tournament like Benasque Open?
B. Adhiban: It feels pretty awesome, and more so because I hadn’t won any tournaments this year.
SS: Going into the last round there were four players on 7.5. Though you had the best tie-break, you were black against Maxim Rodshtein (2678). What was your mental setup before the game?
BA: I knew it was going to be a tense finale. Rodshtein had just managed to beat the leader Cori Jorge in the penultimate game, and so I knew he will be ambitious in the last round, which perfectly suited me, since I also wanted to fight for the title. Once the second board was drawn, I realised a win would give me a clear first place!
SS: How are you able to do so well in crucial games?
BA: Maybe because it’s crucial! Somehow I am able to keep myself calm in tense moments, which helps me perform better.
SS: Which was your favourite game of the tournament?
Adhiban vs Antal Gergely
BA: Last two games I would say. One allowed me to catch the leaders and the other to win the title! [Editor’s note: The last round game against Rodshtein has been analysed above and below is Adhiban’s annotations to his game against Gergely.]
SS: Was there a specific routine that you would follow during the tournament?
BA: Nothing revolutionary! I would wake up just in time before breakfast closed! Then worked a bit and tried to get some rest before the round.
SS: In this tournament, with the white pieces you opened two games with 1.d4, two games with 1.e4 and one with 1.c4. And with black you had two Grunfelds, two King’s Indian Defence and a Nimzo Indian. How do you play so many different openings?
BA: Maybe if there were more rounds you would have seen some more openings! I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ivanchuk during the Spanish league last year and one of the questions I asked him was, “How do you play so many openings?” To which he replied, “I don’t know!” I guess my answer is also the same – I don’t know how or why I am doing it, but I am glad that I am able to!
A wide repertoire not only on the board but also off it!
SS: How did you find the city of Benasque?
BA: I had been here once before, in 2008, and had lot of pleasant memories since I was part of the Indian team that had come for an exposure trip. But this time surprisingly it was very hot, contrary to the previous visit when it was raining quite heavily. Also last time there were so many players from India while this time there were only three! So it was quite different. Benasque is a beautiful city and since it is quite small everyone seemed to know about the Benasque Open!
Somewhere in thes 16th century structures you can spot Adhiban!
SS: Plus 16 Elo in the tournament – that takes you to 2643. You are nearing the top 100 players in the world. What are your future plans?
BA: Next I will be playing in Biel, Spanish League and then finally the World Cup in Baku. Reaching the top 100 is just the first step – I still have to climb the summit but one thing is for sure, chess is definitely where I belong!
Adhiban will defend his title this year in the open tournament at Biel in July
SS: How did you spend your time in the week between the Benasque and the Biel tournament?
BA: I worked as well as relaxed a bit. Both were given equal importance. My main aim was to keep myself in good spirits!
Adhiban definitely in his element
SS: Thank you Adhiban for your thoughts and also for the high quality of annotations in your game with Antal Gergely.
In the past few years Adhiban has sent us some very nice annotated games. Check out his game from Biel 2014 against Solak Dragan or his game against Rinat Jumabayev from the Asian continental 2014.
